A Bluffton brewery is hosting a drive-thru market Saturday. Here’s what you can buy
Live music, cupcakes and a raffle in the parking lot behind a local brewery wouldn’t be an odd sight for a sunny Saturday in April.
But instead of parents wheeling kids in strollers and crowds filtering from booth to booth, Saturday’s artisan market in Bluffton will feature a winding drive-thru course for shoppers.
No one will leave their cars. The craft and food market in the parking lot of Southern Barrel Brewing Co. off of Buckwalter Parkway is slated for 2-6 p.m. Saturday, and is sponsored by Lowcountry Made, a new online directory of local artisans and artists, according to a Facebook event advertising the market.
Its official title: “Don’t Park it Artisan Market.”
The event is the latest in a string of drive-thru events in Beaufort County during the COVID-19 outbreak. Easter Sunday featured several drive-in services hosted by local congregations. In early April, a coffee roasting company, Bluffton’s The Grind Roasters, pioneered a twice-weekly, drive-thru farmers market.
That event inspired Katie Silva, owner of Lowcountry Made, to put on Saturday’s market, she said. Silva, who lives in Bluffton with her family and went to the Savannah College of Art and Design, converted an informal blog she had run featuring local artists and entrepreneurs into a business this month.
She had worked with several local vendors previously.
“They had expressed that they had all this inventory and nowhere to go with it,” she said. Bluffton’s annual Mayfest was canceled due to the pandemic.
Michael Hodge, general manager at Southern Barrel, said many small businesses are struggling with “how to get some visibility in this time where everything’s shut down.” The brewery has previously hosted walk-around markets.
The organizer’s of Saturday market will be collecting donations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry as well as hosting a raffle for a gift basket with items from vendors, according to the Facebook event.
The market will also feature a live performance by musician Phil Cox.
What to expect at the market
Shoppers will enter the Southern Barrel lot from behind and each stall will be spaced apart, said Silva. “It’s a great chance to have a one-on-one with each vendor,” she said.
Each of the vendors will be sanitizing between cars and taking individual precautions, she said.
Hodge said Southern Barrel will be the last vendor at the market. The brewery won’t be serving beer in open containers, but attendees can buy sealed six-packs or growlers, he said.
The vendors present at Saturday’s market include:
Murican Border Food Truck - a local food truck selling tacos.
Bluffton Candles - will sell hand-crafted candles.
Mystic Mates - handmade pillows featuring South Carolina and Bluffton designs.
Tout Sweet Macarons - a home baker specializing in gourmet French cookies.
AR Workshop Hilton Head - will sell DIY craft kits.
Cupcakes 2 Cakes - will have decorate-your-own cookie kits, including for Cinco de Mayo cookies.
Eagle Creations, LLC - a Southern promotional company selling gift baskets, sauces and other products.
HandMade Beaufort, LLC - a Beaufort-based seller of handmade gifts.
Lowcountry Snowballs - will serve shaved ice.
My Community Florist - is selling locally-sourced floral arrangements.
Bluffton Tea Company - a Bluffton-based artisan loose-leaf tea seller.
Southern Barrel Brewing Co. - Hodge said the brewery’s chef is making beer cupcakes using local brews, as well as cream cheese apple and triple berry bramble pies.
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 11:21 AM.
